Rising production costs lead to 4.4% rise in UK shop prices

Fresh food inflation at 8% after increases in fertiliser, animal feed and transport

Shop prices soared by the greatest amount since at least 2005 in July as the cost of fresh food was driven up by rising charges for fertiliser, animal feed and transport.

Prices rose by 4.4% compared to July last year, a step up from a year-on-year rise of 3.1% in June, according to the British Retail Consortium's latest shop price index collated with market research firm Nielsen IQ.